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In chilling detail, Zimbabwean long-distance taxi driver Reason Moyo recalled how his sibling was shot dead execution-style and his brother-in-law critically wounded in a shooting in central Johannesburg yesterday.
The shooting - which left three people dead and four injured - is thought to be linked to tensions between the Zimbabwean Long Distance Taxi Association and a rival local association.
Both associations operate the lucrative Musina-Johannesburg route.
The shooting began shortly after four men walked into the bustling taxi rank at lunch time and confronted seven members of the Zimbabwean association.
The men allegedly opened fire as the Zimbabweans were loading passengers and luggage onto three taxis. Those injured include the association's manager, Ndodana Bhebhe (Moyo's brother-in-law), and drivers Gideon Skosana and Malane Ncube.
All four are in a critical condition at Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.
With passengers, drivers, rank marshals and food vendors scramblingfor safety, the gunmen calmly left the rank, got into a waiting car and drove off.
A shaken Moyo, whom Sibanda had earlier warned to stay away from the rank, said everything happened within a few minutes.
"There was no warning. I was loading passengers when I heard Bhebhe scream. When I looked up, I saw the gunmen. I could see Happiness. He was pleading. His hands were in the air. Everything went crazy. It was bang, bang, bang and then it was all over."
Moyo said the association's drivers had been warned that there was going to be "war".
Association driver Godfrey Ngulube said problems had started in Musina earlier in the morning.
"Lots of threats were made and people were scared. But we decided to carry on operating because we have families to feed," he said.
Describing how he escaped death, Ngulube said he heard others beg for their lives.
"I saw one of the gunmen stand over a driver. He pointed his gun at him and then shot him," he said.
Police spokesman Captain Pinky Tsinyane said rivalry over routes could not be ruled out as the motive for the shooting.
No arrests have been made.
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